By Andrew Gans
09 Jul 2010

 

	Faith Prince in A Catered Affair
	photo by Jim Cox

Question: It's funny because two of my favorite of your performances were darker characters, in A Catered Affair and A Man of No Importance.
Prince: Thank you. I think probably that's where my humor comes from, like most of us, and the more I dabble in it, the more intrigued I am by it, and that's kind of what excites me. It's like when I went to L.A. Basically, my husband and I went to L.A. to be with our son more. We were doing eight shows a week, and – I tell this story in my act – he basically said at supper one night, I think he was six, [and said], "Do you think you could put me to bed sometime before college?" And we moved to L.A. and people were like, "Oh, my God! Why are you going out there? They don't like any woman over 35, and they don't care about Broadway." It's amazing what people really will say to you. And I was like, "Well, I'm just thinking, 'Doris Roberts can't do it all.'" [Laughs.] I mean, I got amazing roles — "Monk," "Huff," "Grey's Anatomy," "CSI," "Medium." And interesting, interesting people. I'm sure you find this in writing, too, everybody has an opinion about everything. You just have to listen to yourself and go towards the thing that your instincts tell you. And I think with me the best is yet to come. I'm writing a book trying to help kids that are out there. I get a lot of letters from young students and even from their parents [saying], "Tell my kid it's too hard." Or "My parents say, 'Do something that's gonna be a real job.'" I realize it just sort of pissed me off that people don't think of the arts as a viable profession still, in this day and time. So I had this idea, and I'm writing this book to help young students or people that really have a desire [to be in the arts]. How to listen to that voice and find the route, 'cause it's out there.

Question: Especially today, I think there are so many opportunities for people.
Prince: I think so, but you'd be surprised how many people are just clueless about that.

Question: It sounds like it could be a good service for people. . . ..
Prince: Right. . . .I got an honorary doctorate from the University of Cincinnati, and they asked me to do the commencement speech. And I was like, "Oh, God, couldn't I just get the prize?" [Laughs.] I thought, "What am I gonna say to these thousands of students?" 'Cause it wasn't just at the Conservatory, it was for all the colleges, so there were about 5,000 people I had to deliver this speech to. And I thought, "What am I going to say in the middle of a recession to these young people?" So I was out walking and walking and walking and thinking and thinking, and then it hit me, and I thought, "Of course. I've been living in a recession my whole life. Actors always live in a recession. You never know where the next paycheck is coming from, what's coming down the road. The unknown and the uncertainty is always there." And I thought to quote Eckhart Tolle, "When the only thing you can do is embrace it and quit fearing it and just put your arms around it and just go, 'This is where I'm at.'" And I think when you can do that, as he says, you'll find that the world just opens up naturally. It's when you fight it and it can't be in your vocabulary that it really messes with you.

Question: How did the speech go over with the students?
Prince: It really went [well]. I was walking down the aisle with all that academia and thought, "You know, I don't have that many big words in my speech." [Laughs.] I could feel even the professors [responding]. The other thing I said to them was, "Look, today, you're diving off this diving board, and I can tell you're all really passionate, and I just challenge you to be that way your whole life. If you find yourself at the fork in the road where you're feeling embittered or jaded, take responsibility and change course." And I have to say, I've definitely gone through ups and downs in my career, but ultimately I take responsibility for where I am, and if it's not working for me, I change it up.

Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.